Saturday, February 2, 2013

Junk and Disorderly

That's what the sign on the letter box said, in the middle of rural Rangiwahia. We were on a caravan safari with our group of friends and stayed for a couple of nights at the Rangiwahia Domain.

Jim and Bridgette teach school classes on wearable art and recycled art workshops, and how to make giant puppets using willow grown on the property and covered in paper. Their emphasis is on recycling, the environment and having fun. They kindly gave us a tour through their workshop at the Old Dairy Factory, which is a treasure trove of puppets hanging from the ceiling, materials ready to be made into something wonderful, and lengths of willow to be woven into the skeleton of the next puppet creation.

Giant puppets and recyclables ready to be used

Bridgette showed me a huge hand bag made from strips of plastic knitted together. This was worn as an entry in WOW one year, and certainly shows what can be achieved using recycled materials.

World of Wearable Art entry

This outfit was made by a Feilding High School pupil and came complete with moulded leg and arm pieces, plus a hat. The fabrics were lengths of curtain samples acquired from a local shop. This is another example that the materials for art works do not have to be new and expensive, in fact, anything goes.

Wearable art made by high school pupil

Thanks very much to Jim and Bridgette for showing us around, and explaining what they do. They are full of enthusiasm for their work, and have taught creative art to children in many countries overseas. When it was time for them to return back to New Zealand they did it in style in their beautifully painted Daf truck, showing the route they took. It was a pleasure to meet this enthusiastic and talented couple.